The New Russia
05-10-2003, 18:58
Ophelia, her reborn name, was wheeled to a small area inside the large facility. Her inertial sensors felt every bump and turn on the way there, which, coupled with her location sensors told Ophelia exactly just where she was. She had been trapped in the cold hard container most of her adult life. At least she imagined it to be cold and hard, as she had lost all actual feeling in her body, but the imagined image was still there.
Ophelia was a scientific marvel. At the age of 22, she had been struck with a previously unknown disease which completely severed her connection to her senses and motor control. A device similar to a pacemaker was operating her heart, while fresh air was constantly pumped into her lungs. A literal poster child for the Life Preservation Act. Still, she somewhat enjoyed the attention, not to mention the fact that she had at least 3 fan clubs out there.
A voice rang in her head. "Ophelia?" it asked, her artificial hearing and ID program clicked in, identifying the speaker as Prof. Emi Nassim. "Good afternoon, Professor", she replied. She 'felt' an access to her internal clock, as a quick systems diagnostic was performed. "Hmm... that's odd." came a reply. "Your internal clock is a few hours off. Now problem" the Professor said, quickly altering the clock.
"Alright Ophelia," he continued, "I'm going to have to disconnect your visual sensors. It's pretty routine, but you will be blind for around 2 hours before we connect you to the ship." A quick shift in neural chemicals signaled Ophelia's confusion. "What do you mean, 'connect me to the ship?'" she asked. Professor Nassim chuckled slightly, a chuckle Ophelia had heard often, and had gotten used to. "Don't you read anything we send you?" he asked, "We told you we would be interfacing you with a ship, hell, you've been in the news for the last week. Honestly, what do you think all those simulations were for?"
Ophelia felt a little foolish. She had been going through simulations to become the first Human-Ship Control Node ever, and she had completely forgotten about it. She had become a shut in ever since she had been put into the Life Preservation Container (LPC) six years ago, at the height of the Life Preservation Act's effectiveness. The tube had become a home to Ophelia, it was safe, and most of all it kept her brain and basic functions alive, where else she would have been a comatose mess and suffered severe brain damage.
Ophelia’s vision went blank as her visual feed was disconnected. Nassim spoke up again, "Alright Ophelia, we have to disconnect the rest of your senses now, but if you start to experience any panic attacks, we'll hook you right back up, alright?" A simple reply of "Alright" came over the speakers, with a slight hint of nervousness, caused by the change in neural chemicals. "Goodnight Ophelia." was the last thing she heard before being disconnected from the outside world.
Ophelia just stood alone with her thoughts for the next few hours. It was easy to figure things out with zero distractions from the outside world. Completely unbeknownst to her was the fact that at that moment she was just breaking the stratosphere in a small deliver craft, which reeked of Beets. If she actually knew where she was, it would have been more unsettling to her than the fact that she was completely alone in the universe from her current perspective.
Several hours later, Ophelia felt another diagnostic being performed. If she could, she would have sighed a sigh of relief now that she knew somebody was actually there she could make contact with. One by one, her 3 active senses, sight, sound and touch, came online, and she was greeted by the seemingly ever-present Professor Nassim. "Good morning Ophelia." he said, with a slight hint of joy in his voice. She quickly checked her internal clock before responding "Well, alright, if you call 03:00 morning."
It took Ophelia a few moments to realize that she had been completely interfaced with the new ship "Vanguard", a ship whose interface was designed to accommodate her LPC and entire mental capacity. "Wow," she said, "I'm armed to the teeth, aren't I? Plasma shells, variable density particle cannons, point defense lasers, and it that an Alcubierre-Broeck warp engine, Professor, you really know how to treat a girl." Once again, Nassim chuckled softly.
"You do realize," Nassim said, a more serious tone in his voice, "That after launch, we will only be able to communicate via FTL communications." Ophelia was somewhat confused by his comment. It wasn't like they ever really saw each other in person, what with her permanently sealed in her LPC. She never really realized that Nassim had always taken on the somewhat old custom of facing the LPC when addressing its occupant. Sure, she saw him do it, but she never really caught on. Still, she responded with a somber "I know."
Nassim gently patted Ophelia's LPC, just his way of checking if the touch sensors were functioning. A slight shift in the neural chemicals in her brain indicated that she would be smiling. She softly said "Good bye" to Nassim just before the security officers escorted him to a return shuttle to Earth. Ophelia got herself acquainted with her new surroundings, particularly the basic controls and warp engines. She had gone through so many of these in tests before she practically had them memorized.
The doors to the bridge opened and somebody stepped in. Ophelia quickly cycled through her crew roster, recognizing the man as Captain Wesley Westward, former Captain of the Ifrit, 29 years old, recipient of the Red Moon, the highest commendation of bravery given in New Russia. "Good morning, Captain Westward" she said. Wesley nearly jumped to the ceiling before realizing that the voice was coming from the newly installed Human-Ship Control Node.
"Um... hello," he replied, "I don't believe I caught your name." Ophelia paused slightly before answering "Ophelia Leanne, Control node AA-001" Wesley scratched the back of his neck and replied "Well, nice to meet you miss... AA-001. Umm... could you direct me to the washroom..?" If she could, Ophelia would have sighed, hung her head down and just stayed there. Of course, this not being an option, she illuminated a pathway to the washroom for Wesley to follow. "Follow the blinking lights..." she said, "if you are at all capable of performing such a complicated task... She kept that last part to herself, as to not insult a superior officer.
Wesley made his way off of the bridge and down a corridor, following the blinking lights as instructed. Ophelia, on the other hand, got more familiar with her systems, while members of the crew filed in and out, Ophelia familiarizing herself with their habits as they shuffled in and out of the public areas. It was mostly uneventful, with the exception of a couple having sex in a supply closet, but other than that, the next 3 days before leaving space dock was very uneventful.
Finally, the day arrived. The Vanguard was to pull out of space dock and perform her first tour of duty. It was basically a round trip to Mars to check on some construction projects, but at least the log files they would be collecting would give Ophelia something interesting to do. She had read most of the books in the ships database already, mostly control manuals and such, so new reading material would give her something to do, especially since the ships FTLnet connection wouldn't be up for a good week.
Ophelia waited for the all clear from space dock, and authorization from the Captain before starting up the sublight engines. The ship slowly accelerated out of its docking clamps and moved to fifty kilometers from space dock. A five-minute countdown was started, as standard procedure for entering Alcubierre-Broeck warp. As the countdown slowly made its way to zero, Ophelia could feel the tension rising. Then, just as the timer hit zero, she activated the warp engines and she just felt the tensions melt off.
Ophelia was a scientific marvel. At the age of 22, she had been struck with a previously unknown disease which completely severed her connection to her senses and motor control. A device similar to a pacemaker was operating her heart, while fresh air was constantly pumped into her lungs. A literal poster child for the Life Preservation Act. Still, she somewhat enjoyed the attention, not to mention the fact that she had at least 3 fan clubs out there.
A voice rang in her head. "Ophelia?" it asked, her artificial hearing and ID program clicked in, identifying the speaker as Prof. Emi Nassim. "Good afternoon, Professor", she replied. She 'felt' an access to her internal clock, as a quick systems diagnostic was performed. "Hmm... that's odd." came a reply. "Your internal clock is a few hours off. Now problem" the Professor said, quickly altering the clock.
"Alright Ophelia," he continued, "I'm going to have to disconnect your visual sensors. It's pretty routine, but you will be blind for around 2 hours before we connect you to the ship." A quick shift in neural chemicals signaled Ophelia's confusion. "What do you mean, 'connect me to the ship?'" she asked. Professor Nassim chuckled slightly, a chuckle Ophelia had heard often, and had gotten used to. "Don't you read anything we send you?" he asked, "We told you we would be interfacing you with a ship, hell, you've been in the news for the last week. Honestly, what do you think all those simulations were for?"
Ophelia felt a little foolish. She had been going through simulations to become the first Human-Ship Control Node ever, and she had completely forgotten about it. She had become a shut in ever since she had been put into the Life Preservation Container (LPC) six years ago, at the height of the Life Preservation Act's effectiveness. The tube had become a home to Ophelia, it was safe, and most of all it kept her brain and basic functions alive, where else she would have been a comatose mess and suffered severe brain damage.
Ophelia’s vision went blank as her visual feed was disconnected. Nassim spoke up again, "Alright Ophelia, we have to disconnect the rest of your senses now, but if you start to experience any panic attacks, we'll hook you right back up, alright?" A simple reply of "Alright" came over the speakers, with a slight hint of nervousness, caused by the change in neural chemicals. "Goodnight Ophelia." was the last thing she heard before being disconnected from the outside world.
Ophelia just stood alone with her thoughts for the next few hours. It was easy to figure things out with zero distractions from the outside world. Completely unbeknownst to her was the fact that at that moment she was just breaking the stratosphere in a small deliver craft, which reeked of Beets. If she actually knew where she was, it would have been more unsettling to her than the fact that she was completely alone in the universe from her current perspective.
Several hours later, Ophelia felt another diagnostic being performed. If she could, she would have sighed a sigh of relief now that she knew somebody was actually there she could make contact with. One by one, her 3 active senses, sight, sound and touch, came online, and she was greeted by the seemingly ever-present Professor Nassim. "Good morning Ophelia." he said, with a slight hint of joy in his voice. She quickly checked her internal clock before responding "Well, alright, if you call 03:00 morning."
It took Ophelia a few moments to realize that she had been completely interfaced with the new ship "Vanguard", a ship whose interface was designed to accommodate her LPC and entire mental capacity. "Wow," she said, "I'm armed to the teeth, aren't I? Plasma shells, variable density particle cannons, point defense lasers, and it that an Alcubierre-Broeck warp engine, Professor, you really know how to treat a girl." Once again, Nassim chuckled softly.
"You do realize," Nassim said, a more serious tone in his voice, "That after launch, we will only be able to communicate via FTL communications." Ophelia was somewhat confused by his comment. It wasn't like they ever really saw each other in person, what with her permanently sealed in her LPC. She never really realized that Nassim had always taken on the somewhat old custom of facing the LPC when addressing its occupant. Sure, she saw him do it, but she never really caught on. Still, she responded with a somber "I know."
Nassim gently patted Ophelia's LPC, just his way of checking if the touch sensors were functioning. A slight shift in the neural chemicals in her brain indicated that she would be smiling. She softly said "Good bye" to Nassim just before the security officers escorted him to a return shuttle to Earth. Ophelia got herself acquainted with her new surroundings, particularly the basic controls and warp engines. She had gone through so many of these in tests before she practically had them memorized.
The doors to the bridge opened and somebody stepped in. Ophelia quickly cycled through her crew roster, recognizing the man as Captain Wesley Westward, former Captain of the Ifrit, 29 years old, recipient of the Red Moon, the highest commendation of bravery given in New Russia. "Good morning, Captain Westward" she said. Wesley nearly jumped to the ceiling before realizing that the voice was coming from the newly installed Human-Ship Control Node.
"Um... hello," he replied, "I don't believe I caught your name." Ophelia paused slightly before answering "Ophelia Leanne, Control node AA-001" Wesley scratched the back of his neck and replied "Well, nice to meet you miss... AA-001. Umm... could you direct me to the washroom..?" If she could, Ophelia would have sighed, hung her head down and just stayed there. Of course, this not being an option, she illuminated a pathway to the washroom for Wesley to follow. "Follow the blinking lights..." she said, "if you are at all capable of performing such a complicated task... She kept that last part to herself, as to not insult a superior officer.
Wesley made his way off of the bridge and down a corridor, following the blinking lights as instructed. Ophelia, on the other hand, got more familiar with her systems, while members of the crew filed in and out, Ophelia familiarizing herself with their habits as they shuffled in and out of the public areas. It was mostly uneventful, with the exception of a couple having sex in a supply closet, but other than that, the next 3 days before leaving space dock was very uneventful.
Finally, the day arrived. The Vanguard was to pull out of space dock and perform her first tour of duty. It was basically a round trip to Mars to check on some construction projects, but at least the log files they would be collecting would give Ophelia something interesting to do. She had read most of the books in the ships database already, mostly control manuals and such, so new reading material would give her something to do, especially since the ships FTLnet connection wouldn't be up for a good week.
Ophelia waited for the all clear from space dock, and authorization from the Captain before starting up the sublight engines. The ship slowly accelerated out of its docking clamps and moved to fifty kilometers from space dock. A five-minute countdown was started, as standard procedure for entering Alcubierre-Broeck warp. As the countdown slowly made its way to zero, Ophelia could feel the tension rising. Then, just as the timer hit zero, she activated the warp engines and she just felt the tensions melt off.